Literary Information in China

"Information" has become a core concept across the disciplines, yet it is still often seen as a unique feature of the Western world that became central only in the digital age. In this book, leading experts turn to China's textual tradition to show the significance of information for reconceptualizing the work of literary history, from its beginnings to the present moment.Contributors trace the organization of literary information across China's three millennia of history, examining the forms and practices of information management that have evolved alongside the increasing scale and complexity of textual production. They reimagine literary history as information processing, detailing the many kinds of storage, encoding, sorting, and transmission that constitute and feed back into China's long and ever-growing cultural tradition. The volume features state-of-the-field essays on all major forms of literary information management, from graphs to internet literature, and from commentaries to literary museums and archives. By shifting focus from individual works and their authors to the informatic schemata of literature, it identifies three scales of information management-the word, the document, and the collection-and surveys the forms that operate at each level, such as the dictionary, the anthology, and the library.Literary Information in China is a groundbreaking work that provides a systematic and innovative reassessment of literary history with implications that extend beyond the particular Chinese context, revealing how informatic practices shape literary tradition.

A Note to ReadersChronologyForeword by Ann M. BlairIntroduction by Jack W. Chen, Anatoly Detwyler, Xiao Liu, Christopher M. B. Nugent, and Bruce RuskPart I: Information Management at the Level of the WordSection A: Graphs, edited by Christopher M. B. Nugent1. Graphs, by Zev Handel2. Script Reform and Alphabetization, by Yurou Zhong3. Indexing Systems, by Ulug Kuzuoglu4. Character Input, by Thomas S. MullaneySection B: Lexicons, edited by Bruce Rusk5. Early Lexicons, by Zev Handel6. Rime Tables, by David Prager Branner7. Later Imperial Lexicons, by Nathan Vedal8. Early Twentieth-Century Dictionaries, by Yue Meng and Xi Chen9. Post-1949 Dictionaries, by Jennifer Altehenger10. App-Based and Online Dictionaries, by Michael LoveSection C: Text and Textual Divisions, edited by Jack W. Chen11. Sentences, Paragraphs, and Sections, by Dirk Meyer and Lisa Indraccolo12. Lines, Couplets, and Stanzas, by Jack W. Chen13. Premodern Punctuation and Layout, by Imre Galambos14. Modern Punctuation and Layout, by John Christopher HammSection D: Commentaries, edited by Bruce Rusk15. Early to Middle Period Classical Commentaries, by Michael Nylan and Bruce Rusk16. Poetry Commentaries, by Michael A. Fuller17. Fiction Commentaries, by Martin W. Huang18. Drama Commentaries, by Yuming He19. Reader's Guides, by Maria Franca SibauPart II: Information Management at the Level of the DocumentSection A: Anthologies, edited by Jack W. Chen20. Early Anthologies, by Michael Hunter21. Medieval Literary Anthologies, by Xiaofei Tian22. Later Imperial Poetry Anthologies, by Gregory Patterson23. Later Imperial Prose Anthologies, by Timothy Clifford24. Religious Literary Anthologies, by Natasha Heller25. Premodern Fiction and Fiction Collections, by Ling Hon Lam26. Premodern Drama Anthologies, by Ariel Fox27. Modern Literary Anthologies, by Charles A. Laughlin28. Modern Drama Scripts Anthologies, by Tarryn Li-Min Chun29. Textbook Anthologies, by Michael Gibbs HillSection B: Encyclopedias, edited by Christopher M. B. Nugent30. Medieval Encyclopedias, by Christopher M. B. Nugent31. Middle Period Imperial Encyclopedias, by Sarah M. Allen32. Later Imperial Vernacular Encyclopedias, by Cynthia Brokaw33. Qing Dynasty Imperial Encyclopedias, by Stefano Gandolfo34. Twentieth-Century Vernacular Encyclopedias, by Joan Judge35. Online Encyclopedias and Wikis, by Shaohua GuoSection C: Histories, edited by Anatoly Detwyler36. Early Histories, by Griet Vankeerberghen37. Early Medieval Histories, by Zeb Raft38. Dynastic Histories from Tang to Song, by Anna M. Shields39. Late Imperial Histories, by Devin Fitzgerald40. Literary Histories, by Theodore D. HutersPart III: Information Management at the Level of the CollectionSection A: Libraries, Museums, and Archives, edited by Xiao Liu41. Libraries from the Early Period to the Tang, by Michael Nylan42. Libraries from Song to Qing, by Ronald C. Egan43. Late Imperial Literary Archives, by Kaijun Chen44. Modern Libraries, by Jidong Yang45. Modern Literature Museums and Archives, by Kirk A. Denton46. Document Services, by Xiao Liu47. Thematic Research Collections, by Donald SturgeonSection B: Bibliographies and Indices, edited by Bruce Rusk and Xiao Liu48. Early Bibliographies, by Michael Nylan49. Medieval Bibliographies, by Evan Nicoll-Johnson50. Later Imperial Bibliographies, by Stefano Gandolfo51. Twentieth-Century Bibliographies, by Anatoly Detwyler52. Indices and Concordances, by Donald SturgeonSection C: Serial Publications, edited by Anatoly Detwyler and Xiao Liu53. Premodern Literary Collectanea, by Suyoung Son54. Modern Literary Collectanea, by Robert J. Culp55. Literary Newspapers and Tabloids, by Alexander Des Forges56. Literary Journals, by Jianli Li57. Overseas Chinese Newspapers, by Carlos Rojas58. Internet Literature, by Jin FengBibliographyContributorsIndex of People and Select InstitutionsIndex of Documents, Publications, and Electronic Resources